Bored with eating the same things over and over I decided to try some of their recipes that were different from mine. The first thing I tried was the recipe for Shepherd's Pie (p.115). I am not going to tell you the ingredients. For that you need to buy the book. This recipe had a richer taste than mine and actually used different vegetables than I used. Mine usually consists of mixed vegetables, brown gravy, hamburger and onions topped with mashed potatoes. I have to say their recipe was much tastier.
Another favorite was the Breakfast Casserole (p. 44) which I fixed to take to a breakfast at school. My husband was going through the cookbook and decided to fix the Taco Soup (p. 71). We love soup and he did an awesome job with this. Two recipes in the book surprised me. There were two recipes that I found in the book that made me run to my own recipe box. One of them is the Amish Oatmeal Cake (p. 192). This recipe is identical to one passed down to me by my great-grandmother. The only difference is the types of icing we make for the top.
My great-grandmother mixed brown sugar, nuts butter and coconut and spread it over the warm cake. Her daughter, my grandmother made a peanut butter powder sugar icing and put on top. It was actually my favorite. The other recipe I found in the book is a special one to me. Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake (p.194). This is another recipe that is identical to one passed down from my great- grandmother. It was my father's favorite cake. I try to make it every year for Memorial Day since my father passed away 15 years ago May 28th, just 2 days before Memorial Day. We always had it for Christmas and Thanksgiving.
There are several more recipes I am longing to try from this book. My husband and I have a Nutri-Bullet and while looking through this cookbook I found the Freezer Fruit-and-Yogurt Pops (p.231). The recipe comes with a variety of combinations. My husband and I are planning to mix up some of the recipes in our Nutri-Bullet and add some fresh spinach. They will be ready when the grandkids come this summer and the grandkids will never know the difference. They suggest using a 5 oz. paper or plastic cup with plastic spoons as the handles. I've chosen the 3 oz. size because I believe it will be less messy for slow eaters or smaller children. I love the idea that these are fruit and yogurt pops, and in my case will have some veggies slipped in.
This is definitely a favorite recipe book. It is one of three Amish Recipe books I own. I will try to get them reviewed in the next couple of weeks since I use them as well. Trust me I have many to choose from, but I'm finding that I love the Amish/Mennonite recipes because they are so close to what I grew up with.
The more I learn about the Amish and Mennonite the more recipes I find that are similar. No, we are not related to any Amish that I know of. However, A large portion of the Amish have German ancestors as well as the fact that they pass recipes around. I have ancestors that came from Pennsylvania and were German. So who knows, maybe somewhere along the line they were neighbors to an Amish person and shared recipes.
I have had the privilege of meeting the author of this book. Sherry is such a down to earth person. If you want to know more about her check out my links below.
Sherry Gore
Pictures of Pinecraft from Sherry's Site
Article by NY Times about Pinecraft
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